Ahh, spring! It’s a time of renewal. It’s the season of flowers. It’s that brief window of time when Memphis weather is nice.
Alexis Grace‘s new music video “Golden” is suffused with seasonal energy. Edward Valibus conjures deep video magic to bring multiple Alexises together — each dressed for a different season — to breeze through her (their?) incredibly catchy new tune.
You can catch the singer/songwriter live at the Hyatt Centric on Sunday, May 7th, and at the GPAC Grove on June 29th. While you’re waiting for those shows, you can watch this video and imagine you’re dancing with Alexis in her amazing kitchen.
If you would like to see your new music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
It’s cold, y’all. There’s weird white stuff on the ground. As if a global pandemic isn’t enough to keep you in the house, add this icing on top and stay inside. Rev. Neil Down and director Edward Valibus are here to take you away from all that.
The right reverend is a psychedelicized folk rocker familiar to the Bluff City. If “Ed McMed’s Vacation” is any indication, his quarantine musical explorations have taken him to exotic new places.
Valibus, a pioneering Memphis filmmaker who co-founded the award-winning Corduroy Wednesday collective, has been fighting the stir-crazies in Los Angeles lockdown. It’s gotten weird. Usually on Music Video Monday, I grab a single image I think best represents the video. But “Ed McMed’s Vacation” is a target-rich environment.
When the edible hits.
Oh nothing, just hanging on the beach with my skeleton friend. We’re not dating.
President Nixon was there.
New planet who dis?
“Beach Blanket Bizarro in a time of state-of-the-art viral vacationing,” says Valibus of the video, which stars co-director Steph Bennett. Get ready to take a mental holiday.
The Memphis Flyer is proud to feature music videos from Memphis artists on Music Video Monday. Judging from the mind-bending difficulty of putting together this top ten list, 2019 was a good year. I scored the year’s videos on concept, song, look, and performance. Then, I shook my head at all the ties and did it all over again. It was so close, it was an honor just to be in the top ten, and I had to include three honorable mentions. Congratulations to all our winners!
C. Louise Page’s “Future Runaway Bride,” directed by Joshua Cannon and Barrett Kutas, will get you to the church on time, but what happens then is on you.
TOP TEN:
10. PreauXX – “Steak and Shake ft. AWFM”
The Unapologetic crew gets behind the counter of a sandwich joint in this video from director 35 Miles. This is one of those videos where you can just tell that everybody had a great time making it, and the fun is infectious.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019
9. Uriah Mitchell – “Might Be”
Everything is wound up tight in Waheed AlQawasami’s video of a surreal night at the club with Uriah and his friends.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (2)
8. Heels – “King Drunk”
Director Nathan Parten transforms Midtown into a D&D fantasia in this incredible animated video for Memphis’ hardest rocking duo.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (3)
7. Talibah Safiya – “Healing Creek”
Director Kevin Brooks brought out Talibah Safiya’s beauty and charisma in this spiritual video, which won the Hometowner Music Video award at Indie Memphis 2019.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (4)
6. Sweet Knives – “I Don’t Wanna Die”
Shannon Walton is outstanding as a stranded aviator in this video by director Laura Jean Hocking for the reunited veterans of the Lost Sounds, led by Alijca Trout.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (5)
5. The Poet Havi – “Shea Butter (Heart of Darkness)”
Director Joshua Cannon and cinematographer Nate Packard took inspiration from Raging Bull for this banger from The Poet Havi, who clearly has more and better dancers than Martin Scorsese ever did.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (6)
4. Impala – “Double Indemnity”
Director Edward Valibus and actress Rosalyn Ross created a heist movie in miniature for the kings of Memphis surf’s comeback record.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (7)
3. John Kilzer – Hello Heart
Memphis lost an elder statesman of music this year when John Kilzer tragically passed away in January. Director Laura Jean Hocking created this tone poem in blue for his final single.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (8)
2. Al Kapone – “Al Kapeezy Oh Boy”
Director Sean Winfrey knows how large Al Kapone looms in Memphis music, and he finally blew the rapper up to Godzilla size in this video for one of Kapone’s best jams since “Whoop That Trick”.
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (9)
1. Louise Page – “Harpy”
When this one dropped in October, MVM called it “an instant classic.” Animator Nathan Parten transformed Louise Page into a mythological monster and sending her off to wreak havoc on Greek heroes. Don’t feel sorry for Odysseus. He got what he deserved. Memphis, look upon your best music video of 2019:
Music Video Monday: Top Ten Music Videos of 2019 (10)
If you would like to see you music video on Music Video Monday, and maybe in the top ten of 2020, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com. Happy New Year!
Music Video Monday is kicking in the door to your week!
Are you ready for a hard-boiled music video from Memphis surf gods Impala? Buckle in while Memphis Flyer cover model Rosalyn R. Ross solves the case of the missing painting in this boffo promo for “Double Indemnity” by expat Memphis filmmaker Edward Valibus.
Music Video Monday: Impala
If you’d like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
You know what brings out the A-list Memphis filmmakers? Barbecue.
We in the film community are united in our admiration of the glories of our civic dish. Local hero Craig Brewer got together folks like editor Edward Valibus, producer Morgan Jon Fox, cinematographer Ryan Earl Parker, and sound enginner Kevin Houston to produce this two-minute short film for Memphis Travel. Let this whet your appetite.
Behold, “Memphis Que”, then head out for lunch to your favorite barbecue joint.
Memphis Filmmakers Extoll The Virtues Of Barbecue With New Short
Welcome to our final installment of the Indie Memphis Greatest Hits series, which brings our list of the top vote getters in the Best of Indie Memphis poll to the present day. If you need to catch up, here’s part one, part two, part three, and part four.
Lights, Camera, Bullshit (2014)
It’s hard out there for a…well, you know.
14 years after starring in The Poor And Hungry, Eric Tate joined director Chad Allen Barton and Piano Man Pictures to cast a satirical eye on the whole indie film thing. Tate stars as a filmmaker who comes to Memphis to make art, but finds himself constantly sidetracked by increasingly absurd obstacles. His boss is a delusional crook who wants to stay in business despite the fact that his business has literally burned to the ground. And he being hunted by a terrorist organization who wear masks of Presidents. Lights, Camera, Bullshit is a maze of jokes and old school indie surrealism that takes on the myth of the self-sufficient auteur. Tate puts himself in the tradition of Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd as the last sane man in a world gone nuts.
Comments from voters:
“The irreverence of the story to all things political as a subplot. The main plot was interesting, dealing with a power hungry record producer who hires a young man to work on a film who has his own ideas…. the diversified cast with so many fine performances. The Memphis locations were also a highlight…Also great photography.”
Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits 5: Lights, Movement, And The Zoo
Anomolisa (2014)
Being John Malkovitch and Adaptation screenwriter Charlie Kaufman used stop motion to adapt his stage play about a man drowning in depression who meets and briefly falls in love with a woman at a conference in an anonymous hotel. It’s safe to say that this is not familiar ground for an animation disciple best known for Ray Harryhausen’s skeletons battling Jason and the Argonauts. Anomolisa uses its formal tricks to great emotional payoff.
Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits 5: Lights, Movement, And The Zoo (2)
Movement + Location (2014)
Lots of people want to move to the big city, reinvent themselves, and forget their past life. That’s Kim Getty’s (Bodine Boling) plan when she arrives in Brooklyn. What’s different about Kim is that she’s from 400 years in the future, a time when the planet is overcrowded, resources are scarce and life is miserable. Who wouldn’t want to go back to the luxury of the early 21st century, when there was enough clean water to boil pasta? The problem is the past—which is to say, the future—is not done with Kim yet. Movement + Location is directed by Alexis Boling, and the combination of shadowy tension and Bodine’s intense performance made this low-budget sci fi a big Indie Memphis hit.
Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits 5: Lights, Movement, And The Zoo (3)
The Keepers (2015)
The Keepers won the hearts of the Indie Memphis audiences in 2015 by exploring the relationship between animals and people in a humane and empathetic way. With subjects like the staff of the Memphis Zoo and a skittish teenage giraffe, getting people to care was a matter of patience and editing in this cinéma vérité tour de force. “It was a very tight edit,” says Joanne Self Selvidge, who co-directed The Keepers with Sara Kaye Larson. Amy Scott, who was our editor, is a total badass. She started with a 2 1/2 hour cut, and got it down to 70 minutes. I had done all the editing at that point, but Amy was wham bam thank you ma’am done. It was amazing.”
Larson and Selvidge started their festival run with a win at the Nashville Film Festival and made it two for two at Indie Memphis. The director/producers hustled to transform their festival wins into wider success. “We were able to secure national distribution, which was huge. We worked at that. We were approached by a couple of people who thought it seemed like an interesting film…” before signing with Vigil, Selvidge says.
Now on Hulu, the film got a name change to See The Keepers: At The Zoo. Selvidge and Larson were recently approached by Real South to air the film on more than 200 PBS stations across the country, and possibly internationally as well. The pair are currently back in the editing room creating a 56 minute TV version.
Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits 5: Lights, Movement, And The Zoo (4)
Tangerine (2015)
The technological revolution that made the digital indie era possible has only accelerated. When Indie Memphis started, submissions were on VHS. Director Sean Baker shot Tangerine with three iPhone 5s, and it is visually beautiful. But it’s not the gimmick that makes Tangerine special, but the layered performance of Kitana Kiki Rodrigiez as Sin-Dee Rella, a transgendered sex worker just out of jail who tries to get to the bottom of her boyfriend’s alleged infidelity. Indie Memphis was lucky to get one of the defining moments of this film decade.
Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits 5: Lights, Movement, And The Zoo (5)
Carol (2015)
Indie film hero Todd Haynes brought a Douglas Sirk aesthetic to this period piece of forbidden lesbian love in an America on the verge of a cultural revolution. The list of accolades won by the film is long enough to rate its own Wikipedia page, so if you haven’t seen it, you probably should.
Voter comment: “One of my favorite films of the century so far, from its resplendently photographed Christmas-mode period trappings to its aching expression of unspoken longing to its “Brief Encounter” cribbing structure, “Carol” is my idea of pure heaven. It’s a coming-of-age story AND a midlife reckoning in which neither lead is a navel-gazing, dissatisfied man, and one of whom is Cate Blanchett. Need I say more?”
Cameraperson (2016)
Every filmmaker finds out quickly that you have to throw out perfectly good material in order to make the whole film stronger. Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson saved memorable shots and moments that didn’t make the cut from her twenty year career shooting all over the world, and then put them all together in this tribute to the emotional power of collage. Cameraperson is one of my personal favorite documentaries ever to screen at Indie Memphis, and I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one that felt that way.
Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits 5: Lights, Movement, And The Zoo (6)
Jackson (2016)
The human cost of the culture wars is front and center in this arresting doc about the relentless assault on women’s reproductive rights in Mississippi. Jackson won Best Documentary Feature at Indie Memphis 2016, and it’s currently finding a national audience on Showtime.
Voter comment:
“This documentary pissed me off and made me feel hopeless, but it also encouraged me to talk to strangers about these feelings. Our national apathy (veiled contempt?) directed toward women and their bodily agency is unacceptable, particularly when it comes to poor women of color. Jackson didn’t flinch.”
“On The Sufferings Of The World” (2016)
Filmmaker (and Memphis Flyer contributor) Ben Siler is one of Memphis’ most prolific filmmakers. His work got a lot of votes in the our poll, and unexpectedly “whichever Ben Siler film gets the most votes” was a fairly common response. I’ll let his fans speak for themselves:
“Ben Siler was always an unsung hero for me in Memphis movie-making. His strange and unexpectedly poignant short films were always favorites of mine.”
“Just everything Ben Siler’s done. He’s one of the few filmmakers, in Memphis or elsewhere, with a truly unique voice.”
“Ben Siler should be at the top of every list. I idolize him as an experimental filmmaker.”
“Ben Siler is literally a genius and all of his films should be in the Smithsonian.”
The Siler film that closes out our list of Indie Memphis’ Greatest Hits is one of the most radical works ever produced in the Bluff City. Funded by IndieGrant, a program begun in 2014 to give competitive grants to Memphis filmmakers, it’s a collaboration between directors Siler, Edward Valibus, actresses Jessica Morgan and Alexis Grace that started when Siler wanted to marry images with philosopher Arthur Shopenhaur’s essay “On The Sufferings of the World”. It’s most striking feature, the layers of images that are similar but not quite the same, came about when Valibus and Siler were trying to reconcile different cuts of the film. It’s a haunting, beautiful end to our retrospective of the best films of indie Memphis’ first twenty years.
And yet, aside from a pair disastrous vehicles for Sandy Duncan and Hallie Berry, cats are sadly underrepresented in feature films. That is about to change.
Tonight at the Malco Ridgeway, Indie Memphis is presenting Kedi, an epic documentary about seven feral cats who live in Istanbul. If you’ve ever had the misfortune to sit through Lil Bub & Friendz, you might not feel that a feature length cat documentary is in your best interest. Be assured, this is not like that. Indie Wire called Kedi “The Citizen Kane of the cat genre.” Behold, this fancy feast of a trailer.
Preceeding Kedi is a short film by Memphis filmmaker and noted cat enthusiast Edward Valibus. Shot by Valibus and Kevin Brooks at Crosstown Arts, “Cat/Yoga” pretty much does what it says on the label. The first show have already sold out, but a second 9 PM show has been added, and you can purchase tickets at the Indie Memphis website.
Music Video Monday double shot got you feelin’ freaky!
John Nemeth has been grinding at the blues for more than 15 years. His last album Memphis Grease won the Best Soul Blues award at the 2015 Blues Music Awards. His follow up Feelin’ Freaky is set for release this Friday, May 19. Nemeth and his band Blue Dreamers—drummer Danny Banks, bassist Matthew Wilson and guitarist Johnny Rhodes—were joined by Charles Hodges on the Hammond B3, Mark Franklin on Trumpet, and Art Edumondson on sax. Producer Luther Dickinson recorded the album at Royal Studios and Zebra Ranch.
Nameth teamed up with Memphis filmmaker Edward Valibus for a series of videos leading up to this week’s album release. The first, filmed at Tad Perison’s famous indoor trailer park, is a performance video for the album’s title track, “Feelin’ Freaky”.
Music Video Monday: John Nemeth
The second is an appropriately moody clip for “Rainy Day”.
Indie Memphis announced its full lineup for the 2016 festival at a bustling preview party at the Rec Room last night.
Bad, Bad Men,
The most striking feature of the 150-film collection is the strongest presence by local filmmakers since the early-2000s heyday of DIY movies. The Hometowner Competition boasts six feature films, including Old School Pictures’ Bad, Bad Men, a wild comedy of kidnapping and petty revenge by directors Brad Ellis and Allen Gardner, who have racked up several past Indie Memphis wins. Bluff City indie film pioneer Mike McCarthy will debut his first feature-length documentary Destroy Memphis, a strikingly heartfelt film about the fight to save Libertyland and the Zippin Pippen rollercoaster. Four first-time entrants round out the Hometowner competition: Lakethen Mason’s contemporary Memphis music documentary Verge, Kathy Lofton’s healthcare documentary I Am A Caregiver, Flo Gibs look at lesbian and trangender identity Mentality:Girls Like Us, and Madsen Minax’s magical realist tale of lunch ladies and gender confusion Kairos Dirt and the Errant Vacuum.
‘Silver Elves’
Usually, Hometowner short films comprise a single, popular, programming block; This year, there are enough qualified films to fill four blocks. Sharing the opening night of the festival with the previously announced Memphis documentary The Invaders is a collection of short films produced by recipients of the Indie Grant program, including G.B. Shannon’s family dramedy “Broke Dick Dog”, Sara Fleming’s whimsical tour of Memphis “Carbike”, Morgan Jon Fox’s impressionistic dramatization of the 1998 disappearance of Rhodes student Matthew Pendergrast “Silver Elves”; Indie Grant patron Mark Jones’ “Death$ In A Small Town”, actor/director Joseph Carr’s “Returns”, experimental wizard Ben Siler (working under the name JEBA)’ “On The Sufferings Of The World”, and “How To Skin A Cat”, a road trip comedy by Laura Jean Hocking and yours truly.
Other standouts in the Hometowner Shorts category include three offerings from Melissa Sweazy: the fairy tale gone dark “Teeth”; “A.J”, a documentary about a teenage boy dealing with grief after a tragic accident, co-directed with Laura Jean Hocking; and “Rundown: The Fight Against Blight In Memphis. Edward Valibus’ soulful dark comedy “Calls From The Unknown”, Nathan Ross Murphy’s “Bluff”, and Kevin Brooks’ “Marcus”, all of which recently competed for the Louisiana Film Prize, will be at the festival, as will Memphis Film Prize winner McGehee Montheith’s “He Coulda Gone Pro”.
The revived Music Video category features videos from Marco Pave, Star & Micey, Preauxx, The Bo-Keys, Vending Machine, Nots, Caleb Sweazy, Faith Evans Ruch, Marcella & Her Lovers, John Kilzer & Kirk Whalum, Alex duPonte, Alexis Grace, and Zigadoo Moneyclips.
Internationally acclaimed films on offer include legendary director Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, starring Adam Driver; Manchester By The Sea from Kenneth Lonergan; and Indie Memphis alum Sophia Takal’s Always Shine. Documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson’s spectacular, world-spanning Cameraperson, assembled over the course of her 25 year career, promises to be a big highlight.
Michelle Williams and Casey Affleck in Manchester By The Sea
The full schedule, as well as tickets to individual movies and two levels of festival passes, can be found at the Indie Memphis web site.
Gregory Kallenberg wanted to create a different sort of film festival when he founded the Louisiana Film Prize in 2012. After filming in Shreveport, he fell in love with the town and relocated from Austin, Texas, and brought a more competitive model to the festival world — along with a $50,000 prize.
After three successful years, the prize is branching out to create a feeder system of regional competitions, and Memphis was at the top of the list. They partnered with On Location: Memphis, and this weekend, the top 10 films from more than 50 local entries will screen at Studio on the Square. The winning film will receive $10,000 and a chance at the $50,000 Louisiana prize in September. I spoke with three of the nominated directors.
Ricky D. Smith in director Kevin Brooks’ street drama “Marcus”
“Marcus”
Dir. Kevin Brooks
Last year, the young filmmaker’s short, “Heat Vision,” earned him a slot in the Sundance Ignite program and a trip to Park City, where he was mentored by Nate Parker, director of the Grand Jury and Audience Award-winning Birth of a Nation. “I came back with a huge burst of energy!” he says. “I made ‘Marcus’ especially for the Film Prize.”
The film stars Ricky D. Smith, whom Brooks met while they attended University of Memphis together. “The movie tells the story of a young man who is struggling with the consequences of karma,” Brooks says. “It’s derived from the decisions he made to survive. I wanted to make it really realistic, and I wanted to talk to the issues that people of color face in these urban settings.”
Brooks’ goal, he says, is to return to the big leagues in Park City with a film of his own. “I have to stay focused and keep moving forward, because I want to be there someday.”
“Calls From the Unknown”
Dir. Edward Valibus
Edward Valibus, noted for his gonzo comedies with Corduroy Wednesday, wanted to tackle something a little more serious with “Calls From the Unknown.” “Our main character is a young woman. She’s a film student doing the usual documentary 101: interviewing her dad and hearing stories she’s never heard before,” he says.
His inspiration came from his experiences with his own father’s terminal illness. “I’ve been doing absurdist humor for so long, people who watch it have been calling it a dark comedy. People laugh, then they gasp, then they cry.”
Lead actress Lara Johnson directed the documentary “Geekland,” but Valibus says her comedic student films convinced him she could excel in the role. “A big philosophy behind doing this film was giving people chances to do something new.”
Jordan Danelz, normally a gaffer, was the cinematographer, and musician Michael Jasud, of Dead Soldiers, makes his acting debut. “All my gambles really paid off,” Valibus says.
The one sure thing was Mark Pergolizzi as Johnson’s father. “He’s my favorite actor to work with,” Valibus says. “I went through the entire thing with Mark, what I wanted out of her and what I wanted out of him. Then I sent them off together to work it out. I was trying to create a father-daughter bond. It worked out amazingly well; I just let the camera roll.”
“Teeth”
Dir. Melissa Anderson Sweazy
“Like a lot of my ideas, it came about through casual conversation with my daughter,” director Melissa Anderson Sweazy says. “She heard about the tooth fairy, and she was like, ‘Why? There’s a person coming to my house to get my teeth? Who is this person, and what are they doing with all those teeth?'”
Sweazy, whose previous works include the Indie Memphis-winning “John’s Farm” and “The Department of Signs and Magical Interventions” loves to work in fantastic realms. “I’m definitely drawn to stories about magic, either about the absence of magic in the world or the proof that it is there in reality. I like the world to look normal, except for a magical element at play.”
“Teeth” stars newcomer Gabriella Goble as the young child who wants to investigate the tooth fairy’s motives. Her father, Ryan, was the director of photography. “It was kind of a miraculous find. My day job is at a production company, so my entire crew was made up of co-workers who donated their time.”
Lindsey Roberts portrays the tooth fairy. “It’s going to be a take on the tooth fairy that you have never considered.”
